The fox's teeth sank deeply into his shoulder, piercing his [Blood Armor] and digging into his metal cuirass, before stopping just short of his actual skin.
Lukas immediately grabbed the head of the fox, pulled it over his shoulder, and slammed it into the ground. His sword descended in a swift thrust into its brain, killing it instantly.
[You have killed a C-rank Illusion Fox]
Another fox slammed into him from the side, sending him flying into the arms of an Armored Crocodile.
The Armored Crocodile bit down on his torso immediately, the teeth hooking into the [Blood Armor].
Lukas gritted his teeth, pouring mana into the armor to prevent the crocodile's teeth from sinking all the way in as the beast shook him this way and that.
Luckily, he still held his sword in his grip. He pulled back, and with all his strength, drove the tip of the blade through the eyes of the crocodile, and into its brain.
It's jaw went slack as it died and he pulled himself out, immediately rolling to the side. He picked himself up and dashed forward, his sword slashing left and right as he killed beasts before even knowing what they were.
A fox leapt towards him and he swung, catching it in the neck. The fox shattered like a piece of glass, before disappearing. It had been an illusion!
The real fox attacked from behind him but he sensed the beast, quickly spinning around. The fox leapt towards him, but he didn't bite. He could tell it was an illusion.
The real fox hid behind the illusion, slipping back into the dark.
However, ignoring the illusion Fox was a mistake. The fox slammed into his chest, sending him staggering backwards. And in that same instant, a Zipper Bear slammed into him, sending him flying.
He slammed into a tree, and his [Blood Armor] shattered into nothingness, the Mana that had been sustaining it dissipating. The hit had overwhelmed his defense.
He tried casting the skill again as he scrambled to his feet, but he'd already absorbed all the blood that had been shed in his previous use of the skill. The skill misfired, refusing to activate.
He was forced to throw himself to the side as the Zipper Bear blurred to him, slamming into the tree he'd been standing in front of.
A loud crack filled the air as the tree shattered, chunks of wood flying in every direction.
Lukas tried to take advantage of the bear's pause, slashing towards its leg, but the bear simply leapt back, dodging the attack.
Then it dashed towards him.
He cast [Hex Shield] but the bear smashed through the shield as if it was made of paper, not even delayed by the obstruction.
Lukas dashed to another tree, putting it between him and the bear, forcing the bear to slow down.
The moment the bear slowed, he dashed out from behind the tree with every ounce of speed he had, slashing at its torso.
The bear raised its arms to block the attack, but his sword tore through them, severing the two hands. The bear roared in pain, lunging forward to bite Lukas.
The moment it did, Lukas grinned, spearing his sword through its mouth and into its brain. And that was the moment the Illusion Fox chose to appear.
It slammed into Lukas' back, its claws tearing through his backplate and cutting three vertical lines on his back.
The injury flared in pain and Lukas was sent stumbling forward, but when he reached back to catch the fox, it simply leapt away, melting back into the darkness of the night.
Lukas roared in anger, turning to face the next beast. He dashed to meet the scorpion head on, the scorpion firing a beam of fire at his approach.
He ducked under the beam, roaring as he leapt into the air. He swung his sword with all his strength, the blade biting deep into the scorpion's shoulder, severing it from the base of the neck to the torso.
He spun around in that same instant, just in time to catch the fox trying to ambush him again.
A grin appeared on his face. "Got you."
He blurred forward, his fist smashing through the illusion Fox before it could attack, then his legs slammed into the fox's torso, sending it flying.
As the fox sailed through the air, it divided into two, one real and one illusion. Lukas didn't bother to choose, dashing towards the fox that had followed the original trajectory.
Before the fox could climb to its feet, he was already there, stabbing downwards.
The fox yipped, kicking its feet and dodging the attack, but Lukas didn't care. His feet descended, holding the entirety of his wrath, and smashing the fox's head into the ground.
The head popped like a smashed melon, brain fluid splattering in all directions.
Lukas felt an immense satisfaction at the sight, turning to fight the other beasts.
He activated [Blood Armor], the spilt blood evaporating to envelope him in a translucent shell.
He could see that Melody had killed some of the beasts. If she hadn't, she would have been overwhelmed, and that could have led to an accident.
As much as she wanted to help Lukas, it couldn't come at a cost to herself. After all, if she went down before the quest even went anywhere, it would basically make it impossible for Lukas to clear it alone.
The only reason they even had a chance of getting him to C-rank in twenty four hours was because she was there with him as a buffer or he would either have to go slowly or be overwhelmed.
He dashed to help her, killing three beasts with one swing, and taking the pressure off her for a moment.
"Thank you." She said to him, creating six [Hex Shields] at once to hold the remaining beasts at bay as he tore through them.
All he could see as he waded through the beasts, cutting off heads left and right, was a haze of red as his [Blood Armor] kept working, absorbing every spilt blood to reinforce the shell.
A few minutes later, he finally stood alone in the middle of the battlefield, blood dripping steadily down his sword.
Around them, all he could see was corpses, each one a powerful C-rank beast. If he was still E-rank, he was sure he wouldn't have been able to survive this.
"Heads up." Melody's voice reached his ears.
He looked up to see a whole pack of seventeen Ice Wolves walking into the clearing.
The battle had ended, but the war was just barely beginning.